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Patient delay: an experimental study in reducing time taken to seek medical help for cancer

PATIENT DELAY:
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN REDUCING TIME TAKEN TO SEEK MEDICAL
HELP FOR CANCER
by
Nupur Tustin
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(COMMUNICATION)
August 2011
Copyright 2011 Nupur Tustin

This study focuses on reducing patient delay, or time taken to seek medical help after the onset of symptoms. It emphasizes a little-explored barrier to medical help seeking for cancer: fear. A total of 897 respondents drawn from the general population participated in an experimental, prospective study to examine the effect of type of lung cancer information on intention to seek medical help for lung cancer symptoms. Six Internet surveys were used to gather data, three of which contained a vignette describing mild lung cancer symptoms, while in the other three, the vignette described severe lung cancer symptoms. Of the six surveys, two included an infomercial on symptoms of lung cancer, two included an infomercial on both the symptoms of lung cancer and the benefits of seeking prompt medical attention for these symptoms, and the remaining surveys represented the control group, and contained no information. Those exposed to lung cancer information were more likely to attribute symptoms to lung cancer than those in the control group. Additionally, exposure to lung cancer information as well as severity of symptoms significantly reduced time taken to seek medical help. Those exposed to information on the benefits of seeking prompt medical help also exhibited less anxiety about lung cancer symptoms that those exposed only to information describing symptoms of lung cancer. This study also makes two important contributions to current research: first, it identifies high elaboration as a mediating variable between health literacy and patient delay; second it illustrates the potential of beliefs about medication in distinguishing delayers from non-delayers.

PATIENT DELAY:
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN REDUCING TIME TAKEN TO SEEK MEDICAL
HELP FOR CANCER
by
Nupur Tustin
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(COMMUNICATION)
August 2011
Copyright 2011 Nupur Tustin